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User blog:LordDainTheAwsome/Kings and Queens of Gondor in the 4th Age
Hi all! Here's a bit of fanfiction of sorts that I've been writing the last few months. It was just sort of lying around on my computor, so I supposed I could just post it here. Hope you enjoy! King Aragorn II Elessar It was on the time that the Dark Lord Sauron, last of Melkor’s true servants, was defeated, that Aragorn Elessar, first of his name was crowned King of Gondor by Mithrandir, shortly before his departure to Valinor. This began the 4th age by the Gondorian reckoning. Following a number of weeks of rebuilding the capital of Minas Tirith, and its surrounding areas (the Rammas, the walls of Osgiliath, etc.) he focussed on larger issues. The new Khan of the Golden Khaganate had already sent letters asking for peace, in an effort to appease this new power. Only a month after the downfall of Sauron did Elessar go south and invade Harondor, Harad and Umbar, overrunning them in but 3 months. Immediately after, he headed north, to his people, the Dunédain. There he refounded the northern kingdom of Arnor, which was able to grow rapidly due to the incorporation of the Lesser Men already living there. Elessar later reign was marked with the constant rebuilding of the lands and infrastructure of Gondor. However, while a strong and capable leader on the battlefield, on the question of domestic policy he was inexperienced, and often let that factor over the advisors and lords in court. He is, even now, considered one of the best Kings Gondor would see, being loved by the people, and fully capable of returning Gondor to its later status. King Eldarion I Eldarion was the only son of king Elessar, half Elven (but retaining no Elvish qualities), and much more experienced than his father when he ascended to the Throne of Gondor and Arnor. In the earlier parts of his rule he consolidated the remaining parts of Near Harad, with his armies being famously cruel to the Haradrim, conducting multiple massacres and putting many cities and towns to the sword. He established the Three Provinces system, a system where the North (Arnor), Gondor, and the South (Harad), would be put under 3 governors (usually chosen from one of the fiefdom lords), a system which put a lot of weight off the King's shoulders, but would later be replaced by Eldarion’s great-granddaughter, Messerie. During the latter half of his reign he largely stayed in the capital of Minas Tirith, while he worked on improving the infrastructure and trade in his realm substantially. Generally, his earlier years are considered a bit of a black page in an otherwise fair and prosperous reign. King Earnil II Earnil was the vastly unpopular first son of Eldarion, being remembered as cruel, foolish and distrustful. After ascending on the throne at age 89, he had a messy, disaster ridden reign, where he had 2 Dwarvish diplomats executed, multiple high ranking Generals imprisoned, and dozens of innocents tortured on basis of treason. He was silently deposed, and later exiled by supporters of his younger brother, Elessar II, in what was later called the “Quiet Coup”. King Elessar II Elessar’s reign began suddenly, with avid supporters of his assassinating the last king, Earnil, and putting him in place. To almost everyone’s surprise, the transition was incredibly smooth, with only a few lords and military men offering resistance. Elessar’s reign was peaceful, with progress being made on military technology with the invention of the Handgun, and new shipbuilding techniques meant Gondorian merchants could travel further than ever, prompting the exploration and later colonisation of Far Harad and beyond. Queen Messirie I Messirie was the first Queen of Gondor and Arnor, and the firstborn daughter of Elessar II. Her reign started of with the rebellion by the Governor of the South, with which she responded with a massive military campaign in Harad, which she personally led, giving here the title of Soldier-Queen. After 3 years the Rebellion was put down and the Governor was captured. She had him beheaded him in front of the Great Palace of Umbar, for all to see. For the next 50 years, her reign was filled with minor incursions, prompting her to completely reform the Gondorian-Arnorian military. It went from being spearheaded by heavily armoured knights and feifdom soldiers, to a clear-cut, flexible, large force able to be deployed rapidly in any place in Arnor, Gondor or Harad. Aside from this, she also brought Harad and Arnor directly under the control of the Crown, to ensure no such rebellion would happen again. It was also in her reign that the Dark Lands were (re*)discovered, and the Haradrim Coast was finally fully mapped. Despite her violence filled reign, she died peacefully, passing the crown onto her son, Eldarias. (*the Númenóreans had previously discovered and settled the Dark Lands) King Eldarias I The reign of Eldarias in Gondor and was largely peaceful, with his most notable achievement being the establishment of dozens of colonies in Far Harad and the Dark Lands. Under his reign Minas Morgul was also cleared of the last vestiges of the Darkness, prompting it to be reoccupied, and to be renamed Minas Elessar, after the first King of Gondor in hundreds of years. He had 5 children, the eldest of which, Balarias, died at sea in a storm off Dol Amroth, leaving the crown to his next born child, Anardil. King Anardil II Unlike the strong and brave Balarias, Anardil was weak on the battlefield. However, he was an excellent bureaucrat and administrator, and many of his reforms were revolutionary at the time. It was under his guidance that the first major, non familial banks were founded, that currency was finally properly standardized and that the tax-system was completely reformed to make collection easier and make corruption harder to seep through. He centralised the many smaller companies and merchant guilds attempting to export goods from Harad into large, much more competitive corporations, and increased economic output in the major cities 3-fold. However, he was weak around strongerminded and more ambitious men, and often let himself give important command to lower Generals, weakening the resolve of his military as a whole. He had 3 daughters, the eldest of which ascended to the throne after him. Queen Teleferie I Teleferie’s reign was considered rather uninteresting by most. However, despite the lack of real wars during her reign, she yet again worked on redoing the military, taking the new gunpowder weapons into much greater effect. After some of the tribes of the Dark Lands started raiding Gondorian settlements, she founded the Colonial Guard, which was outfitted with the newest military technologies. It was also in her reign that the last Orcs were found and destroyed by the Dwarves, effectively extincting their race. The eldest of her children, Siriondil, ascended to the throne after she abdicated due to her old age. King Siriondil II Neatly fitting the mid Third-Age Dwarvish saying; “For every 7 great kings, you get a bad one”, Siriondil II was considered by many to be a brash, rude king, whose favourite activities were hunting and fighting. He started numerous wars against the Far Haradrim Tribes and the Khandish, for no real reason than to get the joy of poking his sword into some poor Haradrim. While he was away at war, it was his sister Sireldian, who ran the kingdom almost entirely. During his reign trade stagnated, and unrest gripped many far lying areas, an unrest which was only stopped until Siriondil died childless at the young age of 56 in battle against a Half-Troll chieftain after charging alone into his camp. King Calimehtos I Calimehtos was the only child of Siriondil’s sister, Sireldian. He was in most respects exactly the King Gondor needed at the time, being able to end the violence and diplomatic chaos that his Uncle had created both on the field of battle and at the negotiation table. Under his rule the Gondorian military finally phased out the use of traditional knights, in favour of more gunpowder weapons, a transition which was hastened as gunpowder weapons grew in power and usability. He abdicated at the ripe old age of 197, in favour of the eldest of his 7 sons. King Calimehtos II Taking advantage of the rapidly overflowing treasuries left behind by his father, Calimehtos II set out gaining his later title as “The Architect.” He set out improving previously rebuilt area’s like the Tower of Amon Sul, and the Hornburg, and set out on a number of massive projects, the biggest of which was the “20 Sluices”, a project which bridged the great waterfall at the Falls of Rauros with 20 great sluices and canals, making trade over the Anduin, and so between the North and the South, significantly easier and the scale of which would have given many of Numenorean projects a run for their money. He also largely refurbished the Argonath, bringing it back from it’s crumbled state, and extended the already renovated Greenway, linking up vast swathes of Arnor. During his reign, Gondorian Explorers sailing East, came across the distant New Lands, and started mapping its Western Coast, but no colonies were directly founded. He stayed on the throne till the incredibly old age of 230, gaining his second title, “The Ancient.”. He had 3 children, leaving the oldest, Eldarias II, to be the new king. King Eldarias II Eldarias was already past his prime when he became king, and already had 5 children. This was fortunate, because not 4 months after his crowning atop Minas Tirith, Eldarias died of an infection from a hunting accident. His rule was the shortest in Gondorian history, and was followed by his son Elsorias. King Elsorias I When looking at the numbers, Elsorias was a good and prosperous king, namely with Industry increasing enormously in the south with the completion of the New Harbour in Pelargir and the New Docklands in Umbar, both large factory and drydock area’s just outside of the cities. However, his reign was tainted with constant scandals, with rumors saying that he bedded the young Lord of Lossarnach, and that he supposedly never consummated his marriage with his queen, Theoclerie for the first 7 months of their marriage. After years of scorn and gossip by the nobility of Gondor, he abdicated in favour of his daughter, Messerie. Queen Messerie II Messerie, unlike her namesake, was quite an uninteresting Queen. While she did establish a few more colonies on the Dark Lands, and exploring more of the New Lands, the mapping of which had been completed during her father’s reign. She did, however, increase the budget of the explorers guild substantially, opening it up for her son’s later exploits. King Elsorias II ''' There is good reason that Elsorias was called the “Explorer King”, as he spent the majority of his reign in the many colonies, mapping the most distant area’s of the world, while his Steward, Turin V, ruled Gondor in his place. He spent 55 years at sea, mapping distant lands, and exploring the wonders the the New Lands. During his reign he also heavily increased the export capabilities of many of the colonies, expanding on their docks and road infrastructure, which brought in vast amounts of profit. However, his reign was marred by a large increase in corruption in the mainland, causing a good deal of the profit to dissipate. He had an unheard of 14 children, the eldest of which declined the throne in favour of his brother, Eldarion. '''King Eldarion II Eldarion was much less supportive of the colonies than his father, so while not going back on most of his father’s policies with militarily supporting the colonies, he rarely ever visited them and most of the colonies were expected to look after themselves economically. During his reign he was able to stamp out most of the corruption that was able to foster in the mainland during his father’s reign, and made advances on centralising the military even more than it already was. He was famous for disliking the decentralised system of fiefdoms in Gondor that still clung on to the old ways of Lords and Ladies. This dislike was carried on to his only son, Eldarion. King Eldarion III King Eldarion’s reign was dominated by a radical shift in domestic policy; the dissolution of the Fiefdoms. For all of Gondor, Arnor, and Harads history during the Fourth Age most of Gondor was controlled by the Lords and Ladies of the Fiefdoms, who in turn answered to the King. However, over time this old system was becoming cumbersome and outdated, and not at all in line with much of the other policies employed by the Kings over the Fourth Age. By this time, the military and the tax system was already centralised to Minas Tirith, so it wasn’t all too hard to effectively seize the lands of the Fiefdom Lords. Instead of Lords and Ladies, Gondor and Arnor would be ruled directly by the Governors, specifically chosen by the King, based on merit, not title. To appease the Lords, their sons were given powerful positions, many being made Governors or Commanders in the military. But, the message was clear to the former Lords and Ladies. The old system was gone, and Gondor had arguably gotten a good deal better from it. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Telidorie. Queen Telidorie I Much like her father, Telidorie was built for politics, and she ruled in much the same way. During her reign, she focussed heavily on increasing the industrial output of the cities, by modernising virtually every port in Gondorian territory, and establishing set Industrial Zones were taxes and levies where much lower for the businesses there. She was an avid supporter of a revolutionary new economical idea’s, like Money in the form of Paper, and public bonds for everything from housing to repayment of damaged property. She had 1 son, Eldarion, who took over after she abdicated. King Eldarion IV Eldarion’s reign was far more peaceful than that of his predecessors, with much of the radical change and political upheavals put on hold. During his reign the kingdom had some to breath and get used to the situation. He allowed the steady growth of the cities and colonies, and allowed the Gondorian economic machine to increase as it always had. While many see Eldarion IV’s reign as quite boring, his break from the intense reforms of his mother and grandfather were vital for the realm. He was succeeded by his daughter, Messerie. ''' '''Queen Messerie III For the first 7 years of Messerie’s reign nothing much happened, with many of the same policies that her father had continuing on, however, on the day of her 8th year on the throne, something drastic happened, an event which would set the tone for the rest of her reign. The Golden Khaganate had invaded the Rhovanion. Over the 4th age, the Kings and Queens of Gondor were largely unconcerned with the mighty Golden Khaganate of Rhun far of in the east. However, over the last hundred years it had grown ever more powerful, into a force to be reckoned with, without Gondor even noticing. Now, with a particularly audacious Khan at their head, the decided to invade Gondor. Initially, the Gondorian generals were reckless, overconfident in their own forces and completely new to the idea of conventional warfare against a nation that was anywhere close to them technologically. The war started with a series of dreadful defeats in the hands of the Khanganate, due to the idiotic overconfidence of her Generals, but after being dreadlocked for 2 years, the Gondorian army broke though and ravaged the area around the Sea of Rhun, forcing the mighty Golden Khangate to submit to a Gondorian puppet Khan. Rhun never really recovered from the war, and is even today still utterly submissive to Gondor. Messerie died at the age of 190, leaving the throne for her eldest son, Elgorias. Category:Blog posts